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Wait and See
}} After O-Chul and Lien receive V's Sending, they are attacked by a mysterious assailant and spirited away. Cast * The Order of the Stick ** Vaarsuvius (in sending) ◀ * Team Evil ** Redcloak ◀ ** Xykon ◀ ** The Monster in the Darkness ◀ ** Two Demon-Roaches ◀ ** Oona ◀ * Greyview ◀ * The Sapphire Guard ** O-Chul ◀ ** Lien ◀ * Kraagor (as statue) ◀ * Mystery Voice * Another mysterious voice Transcript Vaarsuvius: Crisis delayed. Durkon resurrected. Vaarsuvius: En route to your location; arrival expected in two days. Vaarsuvius: Please advise as to your present location; current status of Xykon. Lien: Xykon hasn't found Kraagor's Gate Yet. Lien: His exploration pace is accelerating, though. O-Chul and I are holding position on southeast ledge over ravine. Lien: Please hurry. Lien: That was Vaarsuvius. They'll be here in two days. O-Chul: Good. Lien: No kidding. I don't know why they've suddenly started risking more doors— Cut to Team Evil outside Kraagor's Tomb. Xykon: You want to do a sixth door tonight?? Redcloak: We've done it before. Oona: No, Oona is not thinking so many. Redcloak: We must have. Count the number of doors and then divide by how many days we've— MitD: Yep! Sounds right to me, let's go, chop chop, say no more! Greyview: Agree. Better to die tonight, avoid long slide into infirmity and despair. Cut back to the paladins. Lien: —but if they keep up this pace, and your friend keeps marking extra doors, they'll run out of doors soon-ish. O-Chul: At which point they will realize they have been tricked. O-Chul: what I have yet to ascertain is how we might deduce which door the Gate is behind, even once our allies arrive. O-Chul: If we begin opening doors, they are going to notice that— A green dart strikes O-Chul's neck, "fft!" O-Chul: Unnh! Lien: What the—? A dart?? O-Chul: We're under attack. Lien: Where? Can you see—? O-Chul: No, nothing. Must be invisible. Lien: Or long range. O-Chul: Not with a dart like that. Lien: Can you hear me, whoever you are? Lien: You're just going to attack us from hiding? Like a coward? Mystery Voice: Pretty much. O-Chul: That voice…where is it coming from? Mystery Voice: Still on your feet? You're a tough one. O-Chul: Whoever you are, you shall find we are not… O-Chul: …going down… O-Chul: …that easy… Mystery Voice: Oh, there it goes. Lien: O-Chul!!! Mystery Voice: Was getting worried that poison wasn't up to the task of cutting through your paladin mojo. Lien parries a dart, '''pTANG!' '''Lien': Who are you? What do you want? Mystery Voice: How about what you want? Mystery Voice: Which I think right now is to not make so much noise that a certain lich hears you. Mystery Voice: Though he's had a feew encounters today, maybe you think you can take him? Mystery Voice: Surrender now, quietly, and the man gets the antidote. Mystery Voice: It won't wake him up, but it'll keep the toxins already inside him from burning through his arteries in the next two minutes. Lien: How am I supposed to believe you if you won't show your face? There are a lot of liars in the world. Mystery Voice: That's gonna have to be a judgement call on your part. Mystery Voice: If I preferred him dead, could've kept my mouth shut about the antidote. Mystery Voice: But I'm flexible. Lien (off-panel): My gut tells me to go down fighting— Lien: —but he would surrender. Lien: How do you out-paladin me even while unconscious? Lien: Alright, you win, Mystery Voice. I did the noble-but-probably-stupid thing. Lien: Now show yourself and save him! Mystery Voice: Sorry, the deal didn't include you getting a look— Lien is hit by a green dart, "fft!" Lien: Aaahh! Mystery Voice: —or staying awake, for that matter. Lien: Yeah, that's… Lien: …about what I… Lien: …expected Mystery Voice: Well. That could've gone better. Mystery Voice: Grab them before one of the bugbears spots us. Mystery Voice #2: You got it! Mystery Voice: *Sigh* Mystery Voice: I guess we're finally doing this, huh? Mystery Voice: Fun while it lasted, right? Mystery Voice #2: What was, Boss? Mystery Voice: Existing. "The Order of the Stick will return on February 3, 2020." D&D Context * In the first panel, Lien is on the other end of the Sending spell cast by Vaarsuvius in the previous strip. Both Vaarsuvius' message and Lien's reply are exactly 25 words, the limit of the spell. * O-Chul has a famously high Constitution score, approximately 25 based on his demonstrated hit points and resistances. So while he fails his Fortitude Saving Throw against the poison, he does seem to nearly resist it. Trivia * This is the final strip of Utterly Dwarfed. * This strip, specifically page 3 panel 5, is a literal and figurative cliffhanger. * At the time this strip was published, the identities of the two assailants were not known. One clue to their identities is that they have colored speech bubbles, which have been mostly used to indicate characters who are from other planes of existence, undead, dragons, or sometimes characters under some magical effect. * In page 3, panel 1, Lien posits that O-Chul would have done the Lawful Stupid thing, though he is really a foil to that trope. * This is the first appearance of the Mystery Voice and their henchman. * This is the latest appearance for all the characters in this strip: ** Redcloak has appeared in one hundred and seven strips, first appearing in #23, "Meanwhile...". ** Xykon has appeared in one hundred and two strips, first appearing in #13, "Plot, Ahoy!". ** The Monster in the Darkness has appeared in seventy-seven strips, starting with #23, "Meanwhile...". Its identity is still unknown. ** The Demon-Roaches have appeared in sixty-one strips, first appearing in #82. ** O-Chul, the Chuck Norris of paladins, has appeared in fifty-one strips, first appearing in #403 "Leadership Is About the Tough Decisions". ** Lien, the aquatic paladin, has appeared in forty-seven strips, debuting in #411, "The Power Behind the Throne". ** Oona is a recent addition to Team Evil. She has made eleven appearances, first appearing in #1032. ** Greyview, her worg animal companion, first appeared in #1036. ** Kraagor, the valiant dwarven member of the Order of the Scribble who died fighting the Snarl while sealing the final gate. His death led to divisions with the Order of the Scribble. He first appeared in Serini Toormuck's diary in #196, "The Diary". External Links * 1189}} View the comic * 603885}} View the discussion thread Category:Uses Sending